SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 15
The Italian Cup 2015 celebrated the triumph of Modena, 17 years after its last victory in the competition. Modena will show off its trophy on Saturday as the league resumes. They will play host to Padova, while Sunday’s big game will be Trentino versus Perugia.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 15
Saturday January 17 at 5.30pm
Modena Volley – Tonazzo Padova Live on RAI Sport 1
(Vagni-Saltalippi)
Saturday January 17 at 8.30pm
Copra Piacenza – Vero Volley Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Goitre-La Micela)
Sunday January 18 at 5pm
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Sir Safety Perugia Live on RAI Sport 1
(Simbari-Boris)
Sunday January 18 at 6pm
Revivre Milano – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Satanassi-Zavater)
Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Gnani-Zucca)
Top Volley Latina – CMC Ravenna Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Cappello-Tanasi)
Rested: Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia
League table
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 33, Modena Volley 33, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 28, Sir Safety Perugia 27, Calzedonia Verona 25, CMC Ravenna 22, Top Volley Latina 21, Copra Piacenza 18, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 16, Vero Volley Monza 9, Tonazzo Padova 7, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 7, Revivre Milano 6
1 game in hand: Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
Modena Volley – Tonazzo Padova
A weekend to remember for Modena. 17 years after their last success, they were the last one standing in the Italian Cup final four played in Bologna. Now they will try to win a league title that has been elusive since 2002. They will probably be without Kovacevic again (he missed the cup final four) as they host Padova, who last won in Modena in 2008.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 81 (67-14 Modena)
Nemanja Petric (Modena Volley): “We’re back in the league after our triumph in the cup. We’ll try to win every game from now till the end in order to have a good position in the table. The first obstacle is Padova, a team that plays good volleyball, they have shown all their quality. We’ll need to be careful because we’re coming off an intense weekend. Our goal remain the victory though, because each point gathered is important for the playoffs”.
Valerio Baldovin (coach Tonazzo Padova): “It’s kind of a mission impossible, Modena is one of the strongest teams in the league. Their recent victory in the Italian cup goes to show they can do a great job on do-or-die and pressure games. They are clearly favourites. Having said that, we’ll focus on playing a good level of volleyball, which we’re capable of. We have constantly been making progress, this should lead us to a point where we don’t make many mistakes and become more solid in the clutch times. The group worked with dedication and intensity during the week, so we can get on court without any fear”.
Copra Piacenza – Vero Volley Monza
Some important team news in this beginning of year for both sides. Coach Radici welcomed back Marco Meoni after two years out of action, while Monza signed spiker Maksim Botin from the Ural Ufa (Russia). In spite of back-to-back defeats against Ravenna in the league and against Trento in the cup, and despite the departure of Vermiglio and Le Roux, Piacenza proved it could still play excellent volleyball. Hristo Zlatanov has been terrific and is now just 24 points away from the 9000 points in career. But careful to Monza, who seems to have found its rhythm and the way to victory. They are coming off two consecutive wins over Padova and Latina.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (1 successo Piacenza)
Andrea Radici (coach Copra Piacenza): “We have used the last ten days since our exit from the cup to work on our game with the new roster. We’re extremely happy to have Marco Meoni back, even if he has been out of action for a long time and will need time to be able to contribute significantly on court. But his influence inside the group has already been fundamental. He’s already become one that everybody can turn to, especially Tavares, who is the starting setter for now, and on whom we’re investing given that he is still young. He still has to mature and Meoni will be crucial in that respect. As far as the game against Monza is concerned, we could feel some kind of competitiveness back in the group. We’ll have some important games in January, both for the league and the Champions League. It’s time for serious business, the player knows they have to push themselves to the limit”.
Oreste Vacondio (coach Vero Volley Monza): “We’re going through a good spell. During the break due to the cup, we have played two friendlies against Milan and Lugano. In spite of the two victories, I think the two games put together are not worth one league game. The competitive spirit in the SuperLega is not the same, this is more serious, the focus and attitude are different. Unfortunately, the breaks can make you lose the intensity you had in official games. Piacenza had a break too, so we cannot complain. They have a strong roster with a lot of experience. Meoni’s addition have improved their quality in training and not only. Hopefully, my boys will battle as hard as against Latina”.
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Sir Safety Perugia
Opponents in the Italian cup semi-finals, Trentino and Perugia are back at it in the league. Trentino won the semis but both sides ended up disappointed. Stoytchev’s men, however, could immediately put it behind them with a Champions League win in Romania against Craiova. Revenge is a feeling that prevails in the Perugia camp following the debacle in the fifth set of the cup tie and the home defeat against Trento in the second round of the season. On both occasions, Perugia had been in the lead on the scoreboard. Grbic’s men are also looking for their first win over a big gun. Trentino’s Martin Nemec will receive the MVP award for the month of December before the start of the game.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (6-1 Trento)
Emanuele Birarelli (Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “It’s kind of strange to meet Perugia again just 8 days after our game in Bologna. We have had quite a few games in this first half of January, we have to find our composure and energy back because these are aspects we lacked in the cup final. We must put that behind us immediately and start over”.
Simone Buti (Sir Safety Perugia): “We had a taste of Trento in the Italian Cup, this is a strong team that never gives us when they trail. They also play home where they have never been beaten, so that will be a tough one, even more difficult than the last one in Bologna last Saturday. But we want to bounce back from that loss in Bologna and try to win it. This would be a great boost ahead of the many games coming up in the league and Champions League. We know that if we play like in the first three sets of the Italian Cup, we can get a result. But it’s clear we have to maintain a high level of play”.
Revivre Milano – Calzedonia Verona
Milan lost three in a row which sent them crashing at the bottom of the table. Horstink’s absence made itself badly felt but Milan has to bounce back anyway as they will be rested next week and will face a tough month of February in which they will take on Modena, Trento and Treia. Sunday’s encounter won’t be easy either for De Togni and co. They will play Verona, who was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the cup by Perugia but are firmly aiming for a spot in the league playoffs. Indeed, they took points in all of its last seven outings in the league (6 wins and a tie-break loss against Modena).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Verona)
Marco Maranesi (Coach Revivre Milano): “Verona is a top level team. To have a chance against them, we need to serve well and force them to make certain decisions in attack. Unfortunately, the serve is precisely the fundamental we’re struggling the most with. Even on Thursday in our friendly, we were better than our opponent in every area except for the serve. We really have to improve on that and limit our mistakes from the 9m line”.
Andrea Giani (Coach Calzedonia Verona): “Tricky game, Milan is a team that plays well. Since our first meeting, they have added Veres, an excellent player, good spiker, he made Milan a more solid team. We have to be aggressive, let’s not look at the table, if we want the win, we’ll need to play quality volleyball. After the cup quarters, we took advantage of the ten-day break to work on the physical side, while in the last week we have also worked hard on various game situations”.
Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta
Città di Castello has been out of action for a long time given that it was rested just before the weekend dedicated to the cup. They resume their league campaign against Molfetta, ninth in the league. Di Pinto’s men have been on song since they brought in Mauricio Torres, Rolando Despaigne, Brazilian Renan Michelucci, and Cuban setter Raydel Hierrezuelo, MVP of the last game against Milan.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 12 (7-5 Città di Castello)
Elia Bossi (Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta): “This will definitely be a tough game. They will surely be aggressive and show their quality. But we will do the same, we want to win to keep moving up the table. I am satisfied with my first part of season. But now I can’t relax, I have to keep working. I still have a lot to prove”.
Valdemaro Gustinelli (Sport director Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “Sunday’s game will mark the beginning of our second half of season. It’s kind of an “in-or-out” for us. I’m not saying this to put pressure on the boys, I just want to underline what is our situation. We have to try to win, this is our goal, even if the opponent is particularly good”.
Top Volley Latina – CMC Ravenna
Latina hoped to stun the Italian champs of Treia in the cup like they had done in the league but this time it wasn’t to be. Their beginning of the year has not been good, beaten in the last round by Monza. They play host to Ravenna, who’s coming off its European road game in the Czech Republic against Liberec. Kantor’s men will try to make it a hat trick of victories in the league following the ones over Milan and Piacenza, which earned them the sixth position in the table.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (5-2 Ravenna)
Todor Skrimov (Andreoli Latina): “We need points after our defeat in Monza, we have to win at all cost even if that won’t be easy. Training has gone very well in these last two weeks: hopefully, we’ll put in play all the things done in practice”.
Waldo Kantor (Coach CMC Ravenna): “Latina reminds us of one of our best performances in the league. To get another good result we’ll need an excellent display because they have a balanced roster and they got great results in the first half of season. The tiredness due to the trip and five set played in the Liberec in the Challenge Cup should not be an excuse because this is our job and we have prepared well for this game against Latina”.
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